On Jan. 4, 2024, Florida head coach Kelly Rae Finley walked into the floor-level tunnel of the O’Connell Center with her head down.
In the previous two hours, No. 1 South Carolina had dragged her Gators squad around Gainesville in an 89-66 loss. The drudging marked Finley’s seventh straight loss to ranked opponents and solidified Florida’s 10th straight season with a loss in its conference opener.
Nearly a year later, the Gators (9-5) faced an identical opportunity.
Arriving on the tarmac of Tuscaloosa National Airport, Florida hadn’t won a ranked contest since February 2022 and understood its SEC opener struggles. But by early in the third quarter against No. 19 Alabama (13-1), it was clear Finley’s squad wouldn’t turn the tide. Alabama dominated the Gators in a 79-69 win to open the SEC slate Thursday night.
With a two-game win streak and a pair of highly touted recruits leading the way in freshmen guard Liv McGill and forward Me'Arah O'Neal, there was good reason to believe Florida might be better off against the SEC than in the past. Alabama suffocated those beliefs with a dominant 14-5 start.
At the first media timeout five minutes into the contest, the Crimson Tide were shooting 86% from the field compared to UF’s 33%. While those numbers pushed closer to one another throughout the evening (Florida even outshot Alabama 58-to-56% at halftime), the Crimson Tide offense reigned all night long. Alabama finished the game shooting 51% from the field and 43% from three.
Florida’s offense was more efficient than its season average, shooting 46%, but defensive struggles outweighed any improvement on the other end of the court. Two Alabama runs, including the rattling start, pushed the game out of UF’s reach.
After a back-and-forth three minutes to begin the second half, Florida sat at a deciding point. Down by nine, Finley’s team needed a run, but it was Alabama that secured one. Over three long minutes for the Gators, the Crimson Tide scored 11 consecutive points to take an ultimately insurmountable 20-point lead. Much of that run came from the hand of graduate guard Zaay Green, who led all scorers with 27 points.
UF fought throughout the final quarter of the early January contest, with senior center Ra’Shaya Kyle, junior guard Jeriah Warren, junior forward Alexia Gassett and McGill all scoring double digits. Despite their efforts, for every Florida scoring spurt, there was an Alabama response.
In a display representative of the previous 40 minutes, UF ended the game with Alabama blocking its final shot as a small winter-break crowd made itself heard in Coleman Coliseum.
Following the disappointing loss to begin the SEC season, Florida will face Georgia at home on Sunday. Tipoff will be at noon. UF’s next opportunity for a ranked win will come in the following game, when the Gators welcome No. 16 Kentucky to the O'Connell Center on Jan. 9.
Contact Noah White at nwhite@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @noahwhite1782
Noah White is a sophomore majoring in journalism and public relations and The Alligator's Women's Tennis Reporter. In his free time, Noah writes some more and plays soccer and volleyball. He also knows more about Liberty League women's soccer than you do.
